Episode 2-134
Summary While the assembled onlookers (including Leez) are surprised and confused over Asha's still-youthful appearance, Saha turns to Claude and tells him that he must have already known this would happen. Claude admits he did, and states the obvious—Asha does not have much time left. Claude then asks Saha if he still thinks someone with such a short lifespan would commit those terrible crimes solely for personal gain. Saha then speaks to Asha, reminding her that this is her only opportunity to provide an explanation of her crimes. Asha continues to sit in silence, but her glance then shifts towards Leez, who suddenly remembers the promise she made to Asha on the balcony to trust her. Leez requests to speak in her place, surprising Ran and Mirha. Natasha questions why there is a little girl here, and Erin points out that she arrived with Saha. He gives her permission since she was recently the person closest to Asha, and Leez thanks him. She summons the Sword of Return. Leez tells the onlookers that Asha was her sponsor, and that she took care of her as they traveled together from Atera all the way to Aeroplateau. She brought her to the Temple of Earth and paid for the Golden Knight that she wears, then had her participate in the Test of the Sword where she drew the sword. She then tells the crowd that Asha could have just given her some money or found someone else to care for her, but Asha kept her by her side instead. Leez believes that it is because she and Asha share the same goal, and the magician wanted to help her. Because of this goal, the amount of time left to live would not really matter, because once the goal is reached, there would not really be anything left to live for even if they survived. Saha then asks what this goal is, and Leez responds: killing the superior sura responsible for the red sky incidents. As the crowd murmurs excitedly, Leez wonders if this would be a good time to reveal her real name. Before she gets a chance, Mirha blurts out that she can clarify things and anxiously urges Leez to sit down again. Mirha defends Asha once more, explaining that if Asha's true goal is to eliminate superior suras then it would benefit everyone. She asks for Asha's death sentence to be postponed. Claude agrees that it would be foolish to kill a powerful magician like Asha. Back at the Temple of Wind, Mirha is relieved that she was able to get Asha a stay of execution. She tells Leda that Leez's situation is more serious than she had thought, and wonders what would happen if she found out the whole truth. Leda breaks into a cold sweat, and admits that she gave Leez copies of Mirha's paperwork that contains the truth behind Asha, because the girl deserves to know the truth. Mirha gets upset and says she should have discussed it with her first. Leda wanted to wait, but since Saha arrived without warning and took Leez with him, she would not have had another chance to show her the truth. Mirha faints as Leda shouts her name. At the Sky Tower, Leez stands alone on a balcony overlooking city, appearing forlorn. She worries about Asha and wonders if she knew her life would end soon. She has a flashback of when Leda gave her the documents; she had urged her to keep them private and read them after the trial. Leez begins to read the papers, which reveal the truth behind Asha's actions, and that both Kaz and Haas are alive, but that their locations are currently unknown. It reveals all that Mirha had discovered about Asha to keep her isolated and to control her while she was emotionally and mentally vulnerable. Leez begins to tremble as her tears fall upon the pages. She has a flashback of her time back on the transport ship to Aeroplateau before she was jettisoned in the escape pod and all at once she figures out the words that Asha was mumbling before she blacked out: hoti marut Leez cries out in a scream of agony and slashes the Sword of Return across the balcony, which breaks into many tiny pieces. The last sentences of Mirha's notes flash. Mirha wrote that Leez is unable to handle this information yet, and wants to wait until Asha is jailed and separated from her. Asha's plan should not be revealed to her because she is Rao Leez's daughter, and she wishes to protect that smile that so resembles his. As papers fly around, Leez turns; her eyes are glazed over with a look of pain and emptiness. Currygom's comment If you re-read the series now, it will increase your enjoyment of the next chapter. I will be taking a break on April 28 and will return May 5! Thank you. Afterword Currygom's afterword for this episode (posted April 20, 2015): * (thumbnail - Leez): I was late, but the powers that be got it uploaded on time. Thank you T_T * (Saha/Leez): Leez trusted Asha like she said she would, and defended her... * (Leda/Mirha): A shared secret is no longer a secret... * (Leez's profile - the picture shows "166.2cm/55.1kg" (5'5.5" 121.5 lbs)): Her body is changing. In S.1 Ep.11, Leez was 163cm/56kg (5'4"/123.5 lbs). * The next chapter will be the longest chapter so far—even longer than The Night it Rained Fire. Yet-to-be-seen scenes from the Season 2 Prologue (Agni, Sagara, Brilith, etc.) will appear. Well, Ran's surprised face was already out several times, I guess. He'll change his clothes again in the next chapter. * I'm going to take a break on April 28 so I'll see you on May 5...!! (If I don't rest, I won't be able to do anything, because my eyes are in horrible shape... T_T) * The ''Kubera'' 6th Character Popularity Contest is coming. If you like popularity contests, please participate this one time! (The link on the blog is now dead.) * + The drawing error as well as other errors have been fixed, and the update will be in the morning. Thank you for letting me know. + It's now updated. 2-134 drawn sword.png|final defense 2-134 have a seat.png|gonna miss her cute chibi faces 2-134 truth.png|ugly truth 2-134 what ifs.png|what-ifs Notes * (repeat from last week) As a proficient Death magician, Claude has the ability to see a person's lifespan. * Show/Hide Spoiler We find out later that Saha never intended to execute Asha, and that her trial was just a pretext to gather all the top magicians to fight the suras together. * Leez was first seen carrying the envelope when she met up with Ran after talking to Saha. * This is the last episode of Chapter 30: Falling Petals. The title could refer to: ** the dead flowers surrounding Asha's cell due to hoti yama, ** Leez's apparent transition from a young, happy, trusting girl to someone who is broken, ** Asha's fall from grace, and her (former) fans becoming disillusioned with her, ** and the papers with information on Leez's friends and herself fluttering. ** Falling petals also symbolize something inevitable happening, or the fragility of beauty, life and love; in japanese mythology, (falling) cherry blossoms are often connected with death References